World’s first airline to offer its passengers free cover for COVID-19 medical expenses and quarantine costs, in a unique assurance when they fly to any destination, in any class of travel
Emirates customers can travel with confidence, as the airline will cover medical expenses of up to EUR 150,000 and quarantine costs of EUR 100 per day for 14 days, should they be diagnosed with COVID-19 during their travel, while they are away from home.
This cover is provided by the airline, free of cost to its customers.
HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Emirates Group Chairman and Chief Executive said: “Under the directive of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed, UAE Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, Emirates is proud to lead the way in boosting confidence for international travel. We know people are yearning to fly as borders around the world gradually re-open, but they are seeking flexibility and assurances should something unforeseen happen during their travel.”
He added: “Emirates has worked hard to put in place measures at every step of the customer journey to mitigate risk of infection, and we have also revamped our booking policies to offer flexibility. We are now taking it to the next level, by being the first in the industry to offer our customers free global cover for COVID-19 medical expenses and quarantine costs should they incur these costs during their travel. It is an investment on our part, but we are putting our customers first, and we believe they will welcome this initiative.”
First airline in the world to offer free, global cover for COVID-19 related costs
This cover for COVID-19 related medical expenses and quarantine costs is offered by Emirates free of cost to its customers regardless of class of travel or destination. This cover is immediately effective for customers flying on Emirates until 31 October 2020 (first flight to be completed on or before 31 October 2020). It is valid for 31 days from the moment they fly the first sector of their journey. This means Emirates customers can continue to benefit from the added assurance of this cover, even if they travel onwards to another city after arriving at their Emirates destination.
Customers do not need to register or fill in any forms before they travel, and they are not obligated to utilise this cover provided by Emirates.
Any impacted customer who has been diagnosed with COVID-19 during their travel simply has to contact a dedicated hotline to avail of assistance and cover.
The hotline number, and details of what COVID-19 related expenses are covered, is available on www.emirates.com/COVID19assistance.
Flexibility and assurance
With the gradual re-opening of borders over the summer, Emirates has revised its booking policies to offer customers more flexibility and confidence to plan their travel. Customers whose travel plans are disrupted by COVID-19 related flight or travel restrictions, can simply hold on to their ticket which will be valid for 24 months and rebook to fly at a later time; request travel vouchers to offset against future Emirates purchases, or request refunds via an online form on Emirates’ website or via their travel booking agent.
Dubai, UAE, 23 July 2020
Emirates seeks to allay the fear of flying during COVID-19 pandemic, says GlobalData
Following the news that Emirates will cover customers from COVID-19 expenses to boost travel confidence, Mathew George, Ph.D., Aerospace & Defense Analyst at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, offers his view:
“This is another step taken by Emirates to ensure customers feel safe when travelling with the airline and to bring tourists and investment back to Dubai. Emirates earlier announced measures to provide a complimentary travel hygiene kit to all passengers and this announcement builds on that, providing cover at no additional cost to the passenger, irrespective of class of travel.
“No additional cost to the consumer will be a welcome differentiator as GlobalData’s survey ending 12 July found that 37% of respondents in the UAE felt they would be financially worse off over the next month.
“According to GlobalData, 45% of Generation X in the UAE remain ‘extremely concerned’ about COVID-19. Generation X is more risk-averse than younger generations due to greater concerns surrounding health and safety. Within this demographic, over a third of respondents ‘strongly agree’ they have had to change or cancel upcoming domestic (22%) and international (38%) plans.
“Emirates hopes to change the perception of flying by assuring passengers of sufficient safety measures before and during their travel, and an additional health cover should to them to travel.
“Airlines and countries are slowly opening up, and are looking to reverse the headwinds brought about by COVID-19. It will be interesting to see how many customers will change their plans due to this offering from Emirates, and how this will affect the airline’s bottom line. The road to recovery will be a long one, but this as a necessary step and Emirates may now be prepared to deal with some short-to-mid-term pain for a gain in the longer term.”
